Effects of alpha-lipoic acid on sperm quality in patients with varicocele-related male infertility: study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Varicocele is a high incidence and is considered to be the most common and correctable cause of male infertility. Oxidative stress (OS) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of varicocele-related male infertility. In addition to varicocelectomy, antioxidant supplementation seems to be an effective scheme for the treatment of varicocele-related male infertility, but it is still controversial. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) supplementation on sperm quality in patients with varicocele-related male infertility. METHODS: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, we will randomize 80 patients with varicocele-related male infertility from Guilin People's Hospital. The non-surgical observation group (n = 20) will receive ALA, the non-surgical control group (n = 20) will receive vitamin E, the surgical observation group (n = 20) will receive ALA after the operation, and the surgical control group (n = 20) will receive vitamin E after the operation. The course of treatment will be 3 months. The results will compare the changes in semen parameters, sex hormones, testicular volume, sperm DNA fragment index (DFI), seminal plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) between the groups at baseline and after 3 months of antioxidant supplementation. DISCUSSION: Whether it is necessary to use antioxidants in varicocele-related male infertility, how potent antioxidants should be used, postoperative application or non-surgical independent application still needs to be explored. This study attempts to compare the effects of two antioxidants (ALA and vitamin E) on sperm quality in patients with varicocele-related male infertility (surgical or non-surgical) and attempted to answer the above questions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) ChiCTR2100054958. Registered on 29 December 2021.

Bioinformatics Analysis and Identification of Genes and Molecular Pathways Involved in Venous Thromboembolism (VTE).

OBJECTIVES: To explore the key genes, and correlated pathways in venous thromboembolism (VTE) via bioinformatic analysis, and expected our findings could contribute to the development of new biomarkers and therapeutic target for VTE. METHODS: Two VTE-related microarray expression profiles (GSE48000 and GSE19151) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Ominibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed using limma package, and overlapping DEGs were identified form the above two expression profiles. Then, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEEG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed by DAVID. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by using STRING and visualized with Cytoscape. Furthermore, module analysis plus centrality analysis of the PPI network were executed to identify the potential key genes. Finally, the pathway analysis was performed using GenCLiP 3.0. RESULTS: A total of 173 DEGs (125 upregulated and 48 downregulated) were identified. GO analysis demonstrated that DEGs were mainly enriched in viral life cycle, ribosome and structural constituent of ribosome. Meanwhile, KEGG pathway analysis showed that these genes were enriched in ribosome, Parkinson's disease and cell cycle. Additionally, one most significant module and 12 hub genes were found. Finally, 6 key genes, namely ISG15, RPS15A, MRPL13, ICT1, MRPL15 and RPLP0, with high centrality features were identified. These key genes were mainly involved in translation, metabolism of proteins and ribosome pathway. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, these 6 identified genes and correlated pathways should play an important role in VTE, which can provide new insight into the molecular mechanism, potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets associated with VTE.

Biological Characteristics and Molecular Mechanism of Fludioxonil Resistance in Botrytis cinerea From Henan Province of China.

The gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea has a significant impact on tomato production throughout the world. Although the synthetic fungicide fludioxonil can effectively control B. cinerea, there have been several reports of resistance to this fungicide. This study indicated that all of the fludioxonil-resistant strains tested, including one field-resistant isolate and four laboratory strains, had reduced fitness relative to sensitive isolates. In addition to having reduced growth, sporulation, and pathogenicity, the resistant strains were more sensitive to osmotic stress and had significantly (P < 0.05) higher peroxidase activity. BOs1, a kinase in the high-osmolarity glycerol stress response signal transduction pathway, is believed to harbor mutations related to fludioxonil resistance. Sequence analysis of their BOs1 sequences indicated that the fludioxonil-resistant field isolate, XXtom1806, had four point mutations resulting in four amino acid changes (I365S, S531G, T565N, and T1267A) and three amino acids (I365S, S531G, and T565N) in the histidine kinases, adenylyl cyclases, methyl-accepting chemotaxis receptors, and phosphatases domain, which associated with fludioxonil binding. Similarly, two of the laboratory strains, XXtom-Lab1 and XXtom-Lab4, had three (Q846S, I1126S, and G415D) and two (P1051S and V1241M) point mutations, respectively. A third strain, XXtom-lab3, had a 52-bp insertion that included a stop codon at amino acid 256. Interestingly, the BOs1 sequence of the fourth laboratory strain, XXtom-lab5, was identical to those of the sensitive isolates, indicating that an alternative resistance mechanism exists. The study also found evidence of positive cross-resistance between fludioxonil and the dicarboximide fungicides procymidone and iprodione, but no cross-resistance was detected with any other fungicides tested, including boscalid, carbendazim, tebuconazole, and fluazinam.

Effect of 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-D-glucoside on lipoprotein oxidation and proliferation of coronary arterial smooth cells.

To investigate the effects of 2,3,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-beta-D-glucoside (THSG), a compound extracted from the root of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb, on lipoprotein (LDL and VLDL) oxidation, proliferation and nitric oxide (NO) content of coronary arterial smooth cells (CASMCs) induced by LDL, VLDL, ox-LDL and ox-VLDL. The oxidation level of lipoprotein was determined by thiobabituric acid (TBA) method and agarose gel electrophoresis. The proliferative degree was determined by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method. The NO content was assayed by nitrate reductase method. (1)THSG (0.1 - 100 mumol L(- 1)) could dose-dependently prevent lipoprotein from oxidation induced by Cu(2 + ) and CASMCs. (2)THSG (0.1 - 100 micromol L(- 1)) inhibited porcine CASMCs proliferation elicited by LDL, VLDL, ox-LDL and ox-VLDL. (3)THSG (0.1 - 100 micromol L(- 1)) counterpoised the decrease of NO content in CASMCs evoked by LDL, VLDL, ox-LDL and ox-VLDL. As compared with control, it was found that the threshold concentration of THSG, which significantly exerted the actions mentioned above, were at the concentration of 1 micromol.L(- 1) (P < 0.01). In conclusion, THSG possesses the antagonistic effects on oxidation of lipoprotein, proliferation and decrease of NO content of CASMCs, which partially explain the mechanism of anti-atherosclerosis of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb.